Endangered Specie Capertee Stringybark - Case Study Example

NSW Riverine Region - Capartee Stringbark Introduction NSW Threatened Species Act 1995 lists as vulnerable species, the Capartee Stringbark (Eucalyptus Cannonni) in their schedule 2. This species is also listed in the Commonwealth Endangered Species Act of 1992 as vulnerable species. This is normally a tree of 10-15 m high with a stringy bark. This normally has leaves that are 9 to 15 cms long and about 1.5 to 2.5 cms wide. These have fruits that are more than 1 cm in diameter. This tree is normally found on the western slopes of Blue Mountains from Mount Piper in the south to the Mudgee area in the north. This is also available along the Winburndale Nature Reserve. This tree is found in more than fifty five different locations in New South Wales. The current status of the trees is more that of relicts, though they were pretty wide spread earlier on (Hunter 1998). Due to changes in the environmental condition, there has been an overall depletion of these species. They have been slowly losing ground and the population of the species has been depleting in all the locations. The exact reason for such depletion has not yet been ascertained, though a number of possible causes have been identified. In a similar way, the influence it has on the rest of the flora and fauna in the locality is also not fully identified though most of them and the influence of the tree are also identified in the environment. Biological Relationships These trees mostly occur in table lands and on a wide variety of geological soils at reasonable altitudes. Most often these trees occur in foot slopes of hilly terrains, though by nature they can grow on any type of land. This species flowers during the months of January to April. The seeds are spread once they are formed. They travel in air and is carried away by wind. They are not carried to long distances. They are always found in close proximity to the parent tree. They fall due to gravity and get into the soil when the wind blows. While the reproduction is helped by nature, their destruction is also caused mostly by nature. The forest fires are the main reasons for destroying nearly 30% of the saplings when they start sprouting. These also weaken even the adult trees there by causing the trees to wither later. However, many of the mature trees sprout after the forest fires. The Eucalyptus trees have the possum in their leaves which makes them averse for animals that feed on them. This is a defensive mechanism that most of the Eucalyptus species adopt and this species also adopts. This protects itself from the animal kingdom to a large extent making its survival in the forest easier (Jeffrey Harborne, 1999). This is made possible by the presence of phenolic chemical components present in the leaf. It is also found that the trees since they have the stringy bark are not particularly attractive to animals to feed on them. Biologically it has protected itself from grazing animals. However, it maintains a balance of available trees and plants in the location where it has been thriving. Now with the depleting population of these trees this delicate balance is affected. The trees are biologically affected when their hybrids are found in the neighbourhoods with other tree species. This hurts the population of the original species since the hybrids grow in the same region and try to destroy the original species. This is one of the major reasons for the population of the species to come down drastically. The species develops putative hybrids with closely related species. The hybrid populations reach as much as 30% of the species population in certain areas causing large scale reduction in the species population (Ladiges & Humphries, 1986). Social Relationships Apart from the forest fires, land clearing and open cut coal mining continues to be major cause for the destruction of these species. In the case of forest fires, the trees have worked out a methodology to get around these and are able to sprout after a fierce forest fire, they do not hold any chance against human activities of these kinds. Roadside trees get cut when the roads are laid or modified. Grazing also damages the growth of the population of these species since they destroy the freshly sprouting trees. Growth of agriculture is another major cause for the reduction of species population. Logging of these trees is primarily done for firewood and is not normally used for any other purpose. The trees also play an important role in cross-cultural performances. The eucalyptus though does not have life providing nature, it does have certain curative performances and therefore, a larger 'stand' for the people is noted (Laura Rival, 1998). In addition to these, many of the vulnerable species like Eastern False Pipistrelle, Large-eared Pied Bats, and many other fauna occupy and make use of these trees (Gingra Ecological Survey, Jan 2006). Depletion of these trees appear to be one of the causes for the depletion in population of these animals as well. Political Relationships The government has to pass strictures controlling the use of these trees and their rehabilitation later on. While the commonwealth has passed an act protecting this species as a part of their vulnerable species, a similar act has been passed by the Government of Australia prohibiting unauthorised cutting and usage of these trees. Such political and legal strictures would ensure that the trees are not removed in an unplanned way. However, these do not protect the trees from their major enemies the forest fires and from hybridisation of them with other similar species. While the law enables the firming up of the policies towards such trees with respect to the actions taken by human beings, there is no law which would work towards protecting the trees from other destructive happenings. The tree cutting and land clearing for purposes including that of open cut mines is generally the major destroyer of these forests. In order to set this right, the government has passed rules for replanting in other locations of these endangered and vulnerable species that would other wise get destroyed from the neighbourhood. It is important for the mining company to use the seeds of those trees that they have destroyed and plant them in a similar locality beyond the mines so that there is no diminishing population of these trees. Researchers have been stressing (Berkowitz, Susan. 1983) that the history reveals more about anthropology and the kind of relationship that exists between the flora and the fauna. There are also relationships between them and within them as well. This would also bring in the needed confirmation of the mutual support the species have been playing to identify the support and the dependence between species. Land use issues Clearing the trees for land use is another major issue that destroys these trees. The land gets used for agricultural purposes and the trees are cleared for this purpose. This has to be protected both under legislation and through environment education for the farmers and people who tend to do such clearing exercises. Education would help the people to realise the importance of these issues and therefore, the concerned people would detest clearing such lands for farming and agricultural purposes. This tree also grows with a number of other acacia and eucalyptus trees that grow in similar terrain. There are thirteen endangered species of flora in this region and twenty two vulnerable species apart from the one that is considered extinct in this biosphere. All the existing and the endangered species of flora have interconnecting existence linkages between them and with the fauna of the biosphere. Every flora and fauna in the location shares their existence in one way or the other. On closer analysis, the main reason for the reduction in the population of the string bark is the reduction in the land area available for forestation and the continuing deforestation that has set in the country side. All this makes these trees difficult for sustaining their life comfortably. While on one side, human causes seem to be the major source of ecological disturbance that are suitable to these species, on the other side, the trees are not able to sustain their growth with their own natural growing measures that they have adopted. A project on the western slopes of the Blue Mountains was conducted by the department of Environment and Conservation of New South Wales. The research brought out the close relationships the terrain had with the trees and the rest of the flora (DEC NSW, Jul 2006). Conclusion The tree that has been chosen for studying is the Eucalyptus Cannini which was found to have, social and political effects much in line with any other tree. This is one of the trees that have been listed in the vulnerable list of the Act for tree conservation. There is a continuing social and political impact of the tree under consideration. Politically, Acts have been passed to protect the trees, however, there seems to be continuing deforestation and the land is put it multiple use that reduces the effective land availability for the trees. Both biological like cross pollination of the trees seem to bring about a cross species and reduces the existence of this species. All this tend to reduce the existing population of the species thereby escalating the already spirited conservation efforts a-foot. References 1. Berkowitz, Susan G. (12 Mar 1983) Missing the Forest for the Trees: Reconciling History and Anthropology, Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Proc. Of, Syracuse, NY. 2. DEC NSW, (Jul 2006) The Vegetation of the Western Blue Mountains, Department of Environment and Conservation, Vol 1., available at: http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/PDFs/veg_of_wbluemts_vol1_tech.pdf 3. Gingra Ecological Surveys (Jan 2006) Flora and Fauna Survey and Assessment, Ivanhoe North Rehabilitation Project, Ivanhoe Coal Pty Limited, available at: http://www.duap.nsw.gov.au/asp/pdf/05_0103_scsc_part_3_flora_fauna.pdf 4. Hunter, J T. (1998) Threatened Endemic Eucalypts of the Central Tablelands report to Western Zone. NSW NPWS, Dubbo. 5. Jeffrey Harborne, (23 Feb 1999) Recent advances in chemical ecology, Natural Products Report., Vol 16, pp 509-523. 6. Ladiges PY & Humphries CJ, (1986) Relationships in the Stringybarks, Eucalyptus L'h'rit. Informal Subgenus Monocalyptus Series Capitellatae and Olsenianae: Phylogenetic Hypotheses, Biogeography and Classification, Australian Journal of Botany, Vol.34(6), pp 603-632. 7. Liz O'Brien (2007) Forests, Trees and human health and well-being, Forest Research, Directgov, UK: available at: http://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/fr/INFD-66LJNL. 8. Strang, Veronica. (Dec 1999) Social life of Trees: Anthropological perspectives on tree symbolism, Oceania. Read More